Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

Fibre Channel-Arbitrated Loop
     
         (FC-AL) A fast serial bus interface
        standard intended to replace {SCSI} on high-end {servers}.
     
        FC-AL has a number of advantages over SCSI.  It offers higher
        speed: the base speed is 100 {megabytes} per second, with 200,
        400, and 800 planned.  Many devices are dual ported, i.e., can
        be accessed through two independent ports, which doubles speed
        and increases fault tolerance.  Cables can be as long as 30 m
        (coaxial) or 10 km (optical).  FC-AL enables
        {self-configuring} and {hot swapping} and the maximum number
        of devices on a single port is 126.  Finally, it provides
        software compatibility with SCSI.
     
        Despite all these features FC-AL is unlikely to appear on
        desktops anytime soon, partly because its price, partly
        because typical {desktop computers} would not take advantage
        of many of the advanced features.  On these systems {FireWire}
        has more potential.
     
        [Current status?  Reference?]
     
        (1999-09-12)